The Differences between our Parallel Universes

When you visit New Zealand, one of the first things you notice is that other than some of the plants and the people driving on the left side of the road, it's almost exactly like the States. The feeling makes you feel comfortable and happy. Happy, because if you're from Seattle like me, you realize that you're in a place that's like home but Sunnier. Which is definitely a good thing.

There are rolling green hills and vineyards that look just like San Francisco, but maybe better. The pine forests seem a little like Bend, OR or Lake Tahoe. There's Denny's, Burger King, McDonalds, Ford dealerships, and Blockbuster. Radio commercials use familiar jingles, and the evening news uses the same icons as ABC World News. Friends, PBS, Dateline, The Simpsons, The Nanny, Glee, Heroes, Lost-- almost all the tv shows are imported from the States or the UK. Children develop US accents from watching the Disney Channel.

Moving to a new place so far from home, yet so similar to home, really makes me notice the differences between the two countries. The differences are striking and surprising, because here you are merrily living in your new home in exactly the same way as you lived in your old home, and -bump- what was that? You do what? You call that a what?

• Children are allowed to say "damn." Even very religious adults will say "damn" at work. It's a riot to sit there as the prude American and listen in on all the swearing.
• When people say, "Hey we should have tea/lunch/breakfast/beer sometime," they really mean it. It's not a way to end the conversation. If you don't follow up it's pretty rude.
• Pumpkin. People eat lots of pumpkin here, and you know what? It's wonderful. I don't understand why we don't eat more pumpkin in the States... didn't it originate in the Americas for goodness sakes?
• Most kiwis, for all the pumpkin here, have never had pumpkin pie.
• While we're on the subject of food, please don't ask for "turkey sausage" at the supermarket (as I did my first week here). You will get a blank look. There are turkeys here, but they're about as common as goose in the U.S.
• The Ministry of Education encourages me to make decisions about how I interact and treat my students based on their ethnicity. I make notations on my caseload list on the race of my students. Can you even imagine that happening in a public school district? Litigation city. But actually, treating people a little different based on their different cultures is getting results in NZ-- while Maori and Pacific Islander students in NZ are still below white students in academic achievements, they've made huge gains in the last 10 years because of recent initiatives aimed at supporting them.
• Many young educated professionals leave NZ for the UK, causing a serious brain drain. The NZ immigration department has developed polished advertising and websites in order to lure skilled immigrants to the country. I am always asked why I moved here, which shocks me. Isn't it obvious?? This country is absolutely gorgeous. I was philosophically told by one young man, though, that "You don't really see how pretty a place is when you've lived there your whole life."
• There are absolutely gorgeous, to-die-for properties available that kiwis poo-poo because they aren't in the best socio-economic area. These properties, with their views, would go for at least a million in the States.
  
• There are so many business opportunities here, from property to restaurants to products, that it drives me a little nuts and makes me wish I had a business degree. (There is a grungy shopping center in a nicer part of town that would be huge money maker if it were made over. The country is in dire need of pedicurists. A few more Mexican restaurants wouldn't hurt. An Old Navy or H&M franchise would make big bucks. And that prime view property isn't going to lay fallow for long...)
• NO window screens. No window screens!! When I asked a kiwi about this, she laughed at my silly aversion to bugs, and said, "Well this isn't Australia you know," (which has tons of very awful bugs).

• It is considered normal to have baked beans on nachos.

• If you have an important person in your life, be that a boyfriend, fiance, spouse, or whatever, that person is called your "partner." It is a nice word that covers everyone that reminds me of "Ms."
• In the office, names are alphabetized by first name. Even in Outlook.
• Having your cell phone go off during a meeting is not considered a huge faux pas. It is not even a little faux pas.
• Phone numbers do not have always have 7 numbers. They could have 5 numbers, or they could have 8 numbers.
  
• Hedgehogs are not pets here. They are animals that carry diseases and that run wild in your backyard. I saw my first (live) hedgehog today crossing the street; I just had to stop my car and look at it, it was so cute!